Machine for making and applying bottle caps or capsules.



A. J. L. LASSEN. MACHINE FOR MAKING AND APPLYING BOTTLE GAPS ORCAPSULES.

' APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 13, 1909.

1,01 1,630.1 I Patented Dec. 12,1911.

, 4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

a" Q I a/ A.'J. L. LASSEN. MACHINE FOR MAKING AND APPLYING BOTTLE GAPS0B CAPSULES.

' APPLICATION FILED AUG. 13,1909.

Patented Dec. 12, 1911.

4 BHBETSSHElE-T 2.

WIT /5535s;

A. J. L. LASSEN.

MACHINE FOR MAKING AND APPLYING BOTTLE GAPS OR CAPSULES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 13, 1909.

' 1,011,630, Patented Dec.12,1911.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

r 1 1 LL A. J. L. LASSEN. I MACHINE Non MAKING AND APPLYING BOTTLE cAPs0R CAPSULES.

- APPLICATION FILED AUG. 13, 1909.

' Patented Dec. 12, 1911. I

4 SHEETS-SHEET & W

w/m sssss A TTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT AXEL JULIUsrn-Umrs"tiissnn, orFREDERIKSBERG, NEAR COPENHAGEN, DENMARK. v I

MACHINE FOR MAKING AND .AQPILYING BOTTLE CAPS OR CAPSULES.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, AxEL. JuLIUs LAU-' RITS LASSEN, a citizen of theKingdom of Denmark, residing in Frederiksberg, near Copenhagen, in saidKingdom, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machinesfor Makingand Applying Bottle Caps r Capsules, of which the following isa specification.

This invention relates to a machine for -making and applying bottle-capsor. capsules.

According to this invention the material from which the capsules aremade, is introduced into the path of the stamp or press plunger in theform of plates or strips, the

stamp cutting out a disk-shaped blank, car-' rying said disk downwardlywith it and finally, inclosing the mouth and neck of the bottletherewith. The three operations, viz. the cutting out of the capsuledisk, the-forming of the capsule and finally the fixing of l the capsuleupon the bottle, are effected by means of the same apparatus and inimmediate succession, thus avoiding manipulations at diiferent placesand by different machines.

When it be desired to close the bottle .by means of a materialconsisting of two la ers one outer la er formin the ca sule I proper andanother lnner layer serving as packing or tightening means, these twolayers may be simultaneously introduced terial the capsuleproper and thepacking are generally cut out separately and applied one after the otherto the bottle by several independent manipulations.

One form of a machine for carrying out the invention is shown in theaccompanying drawings in which, Figure 1 is a sectional front elevationof themachine, Fig. 2 is a side-elevation, taken from the left-handside, Fig. 2 a sido-ele-' vation of the machine taken from the righthandside, Fig. 3 is asectional view of the drivin gear-wheel and the clutchfor coupling 1t to or uncoupling it from the mainshaft drawn on a largerscale. Figs.4 to

Specification of Letters Patent. -Pa.ten ted Dec. 12, 1911 Applicationfiled August 13, 1909. Serial No. 512,747;

' 7 respectively show in vertical section the various parts in thepositions which they I assume .to engage the strip to form and i applythe cap, and Figs. 8 and 9 are detail side views of the cams foroperatingthe v punch for cutting the blank .from the metallicstrip, Fig.8 showing the position of the cam corresponding to Figs. 1 and 4 andFig. 9 the position of the cam corresponding to Figs. 6 and 7 On thebed-plate b of the machine frame a isa pillar or column 0onwhichis'placed the bottle d to be provided with a capsule. 7,

I the bottle, can *slide up and down in the pillar c and is carriedbyahelicaljspringg The block- 1 which serves as asupport' for,

adjustable in tension by means ofzthe nut. which forms one/of. itsabutments. A disk} 10 of flexible material is provided between f thebottle d and the block Thesprin' place 'caps i 9 enables the machineftobottles of different heights.

A bracket m is attached to the frame a} and carries at its upper part aplate 9 having a conical aperture, (.Fig. l) thefaxis I of whichcoincides with the axis of the bottle resting on the block f. .Inthe-said conical aperture there is fitteda plate which has also"a'conical aperturer a'n'dfl-85fli which can slide up and down on the twoguide pins screwed into the plate 19.] A

clamplng ring if inserted in the top of. the

plate g incloses the mouth of the bottle to be stoppered and a die-ringa which sur rounds the ring if is located in the upper part of the platep. Its inner edge forms the cutter for cutting the disks out of thestrip n. The outer surface of the ring u is of a conical form and thering is surbe renewed with facility when its cutting edge gets blunt.The ring '25 takes part in the up and down movementof the plate 9-remains motionless.

'The plate g is carried by twofdouble armed levers on which arerotatable about; 1105 a pivot :22 and on the front orshorter arm s.

if which rest two knife edges 3/ fixed to the. plate 9 (Fig. 2). Therear or longer arms] of the levers w are connected. at the back andattachedto an adjustable spring a. The pivot a: is not rigidly mountedin the bracket m but in supports 1 which oscillate about a fixed pivot2. The downward x 5 rounded by a ring 'v screwed into the plate V p.This arrangement allows the ring at to];

while. the ring u, which bears on the plate p" movement of the plate 9is limited by adjustable bolts 3, against the heads of which theprojections 4 of the plate g abut. Above the bracket m is anotherbracket 5 in which reciprocates a cylindrical punch or stamp 6, theoutside diameter of which corresponds to the inside diameter of the ringu so that the former can move through the latter. The punch or stamp 6is so arranged that its axis coincides with that of the ring u and itsthroat is slightly arger than the mouth of the bottle neck. The punch orstamp 6 is fixed to a tubular rod 7 whichat its upper end carriestworollers 8 rotatable about horizontal pivots. An inwardly turnedflange 9 on which is supported a tube or ring 10 of rubber or any otherelastic material is provided at the lower end of the punc'h and asliding tube 11 is fitted in the tubular rod 7 and at its lower endbears on the said ring 10 and at its upper end carries a roller 12.:YVithin the tube 11 is provided a plunger 13, the outer diameter ofwhich corresponds to the inside diameter of the ring 10. This. plunger13 is pressed downward by a spring 14 in the tube 11 and its movementrelative to the latter is limited by pins 15 which slide in slots 16 ofthe tube 11. The tubular rod 7 is suspended from a chain 18 or the likewhich passes over guide wheels 17 and is counter-. balanced by theweight 19. v

In the upper part of the frame a there is mounted a shaft 20 carryingthree cams 21, and 22 which are placed on a collar mounted on the shaft,and the first of which is adapted to actuate the roller 12 while the twolatter actuate the rollers 8. Near one end of the shaft is mounted aloose gearwheel 23 and beyond this wheel a cam 24 and a clutch by meansof which the gearwheel 23 can be coupled with or uncoupled from theshaft 20. At the other end of the shaft 20 there is keyed the cam 25 bymeans of which the feed of the strip n is eflected. During theengagement of the bolt 42 (Fig. 3) with the pin 43 during the last halfof the rotation of the shaft 20, the latter is liable to be rotated tooquickly especially as at this time the machine is running free and thetubular rod 7 counterbalanced by the weight 19. To prevent theover-running of the shaft and consequently the irregular operation ofthe machine, the eccentric portions of the cams 21 and 22 are placeddiametrically opposite to the eccentric portion of the cam 24, whichlatter actuates a fulcrumed lever 48 controlled by spring 49 (Fig. 2).By this arrangement, which acts in the nature of a brake, the motionofthe shaft 20 is retarded and the spring 49 set to tension, during thelast half of its rotation.

The strip 1:, may be one single strip, of say aluminum or the like, or,as shown in the drawing, it may consist of two strips,

lying one on top of the other and moved along together; the upper of thesaid strips being of aluminum or the like and the lower of parchment orany other suitable packing material. The strips are wound on rotatablerolls 27 on a side-bracket. 26 and are fed forward by the rollers 28,29. The shaft of the roller 28 is mounted in a frame 30 attached to thebracket 26 and the roller 29 which is covered with rubber may be movedup and down in the frame 30. The roller 29 is pressed against the roller28 by the spring 31. The roller 28 carries disk 32 provided with thepins 33. The cam 25 is mounted on the shaft 20 above the ratchetwheel 32and acts upon a lever 34 which is pivoted to the frame a below the cam25, the said lever 34 being pivotally connected to a rod 35 mounted inguides and normally pressed upward by a spring 36. The rod 35 carries atits lower end a pawl 37 which on each downward movement of the said roddepresses one of the pins 33 and thereby at each turn of the shaft 20,feeds forward the length of strip required for the pro duction of acapsule. The pawl 37 is held against the pins 33 by means of a flatspring 37.

The gear-wheel 23 meshes with a gearwheel 38 which is keyed on a shaft39 behind the shaft 20. The shaft 39 is the driving shaft of the machineand. is-provided with a pulley 40. The clutch by means of which theconstantly rotating gear-wheel 23 is thrown into gear with the shaft 20is arranged as follows: A disk 41 is keyed on the shaft 20 (Fig. 3) andhas an adjustably arranged bolt 42 controlled by a spring which tends topush the said bolt toward the hub of toothed wheel 23. On the gearwheel23 which fits loosely on the shaft 20, is a pin 43. The right hand endof the bolt 42 projects into a recess in the disk 41 and carries aroller 44. A segmental double wedge 45 is inserted between the rollerand the upright surface of the recess and is connected to a s ringcontrolled rod 46 which is adjustable in guides and extended downwardlyto the bedplate of the machine where it is connected to a treadle 47.When the treadle is depressed the double wedge 45 releases the roller 44and the bolt 42 (Fig. 3) is moved to the left whereby its left hand endextends into the path of the pin 43 on the gear-wheel 23 so that thesame now drives the shaft 20. When the operator releases the treadle 47the double wedge 45 regains its original position and as soon as' theroller 44, rotating with the disk 41, again reaches the wedge 45, itruns upon the wedge and thereby pulls the bolt 42 away from the pin 43.The treadle is to be operated in such a way that the shaft 20 makesexactly one turn at each movement of the treadle and then stops.

" and the shaft 20 makes one turn. The

The machine. operates in the following manner that is to say, the bottleto be capsuled is placed on the block f which is so arranged that themouth of the bottle is a little below the; upper rim of the ring t, theoperator thendepresses the treadle 47 cuts a circular disk out of thestrip 41- which allows the ring t under the punch 6 to give way to thepressure of the-latter. The stamped out disk moves-downward with thepunch 6 between which'and the clamping ring at, which is pressed upwardby the spring a, (Fig. 2) it is held securely. The

r1m ofthe bottle neck now protrudes into the hollow punch and thecut-out disk is therefore formed into a capsule on the mouth of thebottle which thus serves as the mold for the capsule. When the punch hasreached its lowermost position, the disk is in the form of a capsulewhich fits loosely on the bottle neck. While the punch 6 is momentarilyat rest in its lowermost position, the tube 11 moves slightly downwardwhereby it impinges against the elastic ring 10. stamp 6, the flange '9and the. capsule is now compressed by the tube 11 and exerts pressure in'an inward direction on the downwardly-drawn portion of the capsule. Thecapsule is thus pressed against the rim of the bottle-neck and into thegrooves pro-. vided on the bottle-neck, that is to say, it

is securely fastened around the bottle neck,

During the further rotation of the shaft 20 the punch 6 and tube 11 arelifted by'means of the weight 19, while the spring controlled plunger 13prevents the bottle from also rising. During the upward movement of.

the plunger the length of strip n required for the production of thenext capsule is moved forward and when the shaft 20 has completed awhole rotation. the machine automatically stops working.- The stopperedbottle can now be taken away and another put in its place.

The position of the parts in Fig. 4 corresponds to the position of theparts shown in Fig. 1. In Fig. 5 a disk is cut from the strip n and theformation of the cap is commenced inasmuch as the circumferentialportion of the same is shown as being.

so that the elastic ring 10 is pressed together The latter, which bearsagainst theand forced toward the cap so as to press it into the groovesofthe bottle-head. Figs. 8 and 9 show the position of the eccentric cams21 and F ig.' 8 shows the position of the cams when the parts are in theposition shown .in Figs. 1 and 4, while Fig. 9

shows the position of the cams when the parts'are in the position shownin Fig. 7

From the foregoing description it is obvious that in the present machinethereare three operations, namely, the cutting of a.

disk-shaped blank from the capsule material, the formation of thecapsule, and its attachment to the bottle-neck by means of the operativeparts described, these operations taking place consecutively and beinginitiated by the depression of the treadle 47 and the coupling of theclutch and gearwheel to the driving shaft.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

1. In a machine of the kind described, the combination of, a cutting dieadapted to receive a strip ofmaterial thereon, means.

for holding a bottle'with its mouth in said die, a punch adapted to passthrough said a tubular punch adapted to be forced through said die, aclamping means held yieldably in said die and against said punch as thepunch is forced through said die, a capsule compressing means in saidpunch, and means for reciprocating said punch relative to the die. v

3. In a machine of the kind described, th combination of an annularcutting die, means for holding a bottle with its mouth coaxial with saiddie, a tubular cutting punch adapted to be pressed through said die tocut a capsule blank and force the same over the mouth of the bottle, aclamping ring yieldably pressed in said die and against said punch andadapted to clamp said blank against said punch while the blank is beingforced over the mouth of the against said punch and adapted to clampsaid blank against said punch while the blank isbeing forced over themouth of the bottle, an elastic tube in said tubular punch, means forpressing the ends of the elastic tube toward each other to cause theelastic tube to press the capsule into en agement With the bottle-neck,and means or recipriocating the tubular punch relatively to the 5. In amachine of the kind described, the combination of a suit-ably supporteddie, a clamping ring yieldably held in said die, means for holdlng abottle with the mouth thereof coaxial With said die, means for feedingstrips of material over said die and -mouth, a tubular punch adapted tobe forced through said die-and against said clamping ring and having aninnerannular flange, an elastic tube in said punch and resting on saidflange, a sliding-tube in said unch and bearing against the upper end 0said elastic tube, a spring-pressed plungenin said sliding tube, meansfor reciprocatlng said punch relatively to said die and means forreciprocating said sliding tube relatively to said punch.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signedmy name in presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

AXEL JULIUS LAURITS LASSEN. i

lVitnesses:

T. HOFMAN BAUG, ERNEST BOULARD.

